[toddferrante]

Last weekend I did the aluminum trim on my 13 windows. This weekend I used the left over aluminum flashing to make an enclosure for the milling machine.



The front shield is in three pieces. The top rail spans the opening. The left and right shields can be removed, or the whole front is removable for access to the machine for setups.



The X and Y steppers got sheet metal splash shielding. I had to cut an opening in the right side shield for the X stepper, when the table is all the way to the right. The opening is covered by a "doggy door" that moves out of the way when the motor goes through the opening.

Todd F.

[B-RAD]

Are you willing to make and sell them? Very nice!

[toddferrante]

Well, that's an interesting thought. The simple answer is yes. But like most handmade products, to make it worth my time, the price I would have to charge would probably be higher than people would be willing to pay.

If you're seriously interested, track down a buddy with a sheet metal bending brake and present them with a challenge. Or you could just rent one. I bought an old Tapco port-a-brake in need of refurbishment on Craigslist for $150. I'm going to use it to do some more trim work on my house and resell it. A roll of aluminum flashing is $78 (I think) at Home Depot. They also have 12"x24"x0.093" clear lexan panels for $15.

Todd F.

[toddferrante]

After tramming in the mill this weekend, I got in 10 hours of runtime, making robot parts. Here is a [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHwAzz2kIrU"]video[/ame] of some of the action.

Todd F.

[bebob1]

what sort of coolant are you using?

Ive always wondered, for people who setup flood coolant for their benchtop mills, does the coolant (water based or not) have any (positive or negative) effect on the lubrication of your ways and leadscrews?

[Fastest1]

In my experience the coolants have a rust preventative (or I should say mine did, not sure about all). My mill had an automatic lubrication system so I never saw a negative.

what sort of coolant are you using?

Ive always wondered, for people who setup flood coolant for their benchtop mills, does the coolant (water based or not) have any (positive or negative) effect on the lubrication of your ways and leadscrews?

[Fastest1]

Todd, Nice work on the enclosure, it looks pretty dry around it.

[toddferrante]

what sort of coolant are you using?

Kool Mist #78: Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies

It's a concentrate which is mixed with water 1/2 cup to 1 gallon. The one gallon jug of concentrate mixes with 32 gallons of water to give 33 gallons of coolant. That makes the coolant cost 85 cents per gallon.

From the Kool Mist site: " Kool Mist will not cause corrosion, buildup, rancidity or objectionable odors. Neither will it create rust or stains or machined parts even when diluted 32:1 with water."

While this coolant is designed for mist cooling, the machining I do with the Taig is extremely light duty as far as machining cooling goes. It seems to be doing the job just fine.

Todd F.

[toddferrante]

Todd, Nice work on the enclosure, it looks pretty dry around it.

I get a tiny amount of spray through the cracks at the Y motor. I get a bit more at the X motor door, but that just keeps my bench on the right side of the enclosure clean. I could tighten things up a bit more at the door, but I probably won't bother. I just set my tooling rack so the leakage lands on the tools, keeping them nicely lubed.

Todd F.

[BAMCNC.COM]

My Taig doesn't sound like that... I'll get a video soon.

I also came up with a fix for the stepper covering.

I also use kool mist, at a way higher pressure and I mix it twice as strong, so far so good.

[LaserImage]

I'm not sure I'd use water based products on my Taig. Mine came with a piece of paper with the following:
"WARNING
Water based coolants will cause severe corrosion to machine saddle and cause spindle bearing failure"

Maybe Kook Mist will replace/repair my machine if that happens???

[Fastest1]

My Taig doesn't sound like that... I'll get a video soon.

I also came up with a fix for the stepper covering.

I also use kool mist, at a way higher pressure and I mix it twice as strong, so far so good.

When you say your doesn't sound like that, do you mean the low acceleration rates and arc slowdown he is running? That is what I believe I am hearing. My mills run much higher rates I think or they sound different for sure.

[BAMCNC.COM]

I'm not sure I guess, I run 18-20 acceleration and 40-60 Velocity, I don't have sounds like that... I have Digital Drivers set to 1/2 stepping and 48v, that could be why?

[toddferrante]

My Taig doesn't sound like that...

Much of the nasty buzzing noises you hear on the video is caused by various parts of the sheet metal enclosure and/or stepper motor covers vibrating.

I run my speeds and accelerations pretty slow. With my mill being as old as it is (16 years), the gib adjustments aren't as user friendly as the newer ones. Also, the center of the travel runs more smoothly than the ends. When adjusting my nuts and gibs, I have to compromise between too loose in the center of travel and too tight at the ends of travel. To minimize backlash in the nuts and play in the ways, I cheat towards having everything tighter on the ends. Then, to avoid dropping steps, I run the speeds and accelerations more conservatively. With a new mill, modern multi-stepping stepper drivers (mine only do half stepping), and a faster control computer (mine is on the low end of acceptability for real time control), I could probably crank things up considerably. As it is, I'd rather run slow than risk messing up parts.

If the coolant kills my spindle bearings and machine saddle, well, that just means I'll get the new, improved saddle and spindle bearings 16 years newer than what I've got. Or maybe get a full sized knee mill... I was actually more worried about the steel ways rusting, but Kool Mist says the coolant is non-corrosive. I figure that if the stuff trashed machines, they would have been sued out of business a long time ago by people with ruined machines a lot more expensive than mine is.

Todd F.

[LaserImage]

If the coolant kills my spindle bearings and machine saddle, well, that just means I'll get the new, improved saddle and spindle bearings 16 years newer than what I've got. Or maybe get a full sized knee mill... I was actually more worried about the steel ways rusting, but Kool Mist says the coolant is non-corrosive. I figure that if the stuff trashed machines, they would have been sued out of business a long time ago by people with ruined machines a lot more expensive than mine is.

Todd F.

It would be interesting to put a Kool Mist rep and a Taig rep on the phone and see what they have to say about using water based coolant on a Taig. Kool Mist would be foolish to say it won't cause corrosion when it does and yet I don't think Taig would specifically put that warning in the box if there weren't reason for it. Who is right?

[BAMCNC.COM]

Taig is covering their butt, nothing more. Kool Mist is just fine if mixed twice as strong, and you probably don't even need to do that. Kool Mist has no reason to cover their butt because they have proven that its fine, you think kool mist would lie and risk it? I don't think so...

I'm pretty sure my spindle bearings are sealed, also they don't see much coolant, coolant if angled and proper pressure seems to prevent that, but I use end mill holders a lot and they bring the endmill away from the spindle more, so yes, that helps.

[Fastest1]

Actually I am so glad this topic and a similar one popped up. Being a male that thinks everything must go faster, I have always set my accel rates high (25 and up). I have had some problems lately with abrupt loss of position during a rapid. Today I played with the accel as low as 4 and could double or triple my feed rate without noticeable loss. I ended up at 10 on all 3 axis and velocity 80 on X & Y & 60 on Z. This is a G0704. The less violent direction change is probably better for the machine.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Actually I am so glad this topic and a similar one popped up. Being a male that thinks everything must go faster, I have always set my accel rates high (25 and up). I have had some problems lately with abrupt loss of position during a rapid. Today I played with the accel as low as 4 and could double or triple my feed rate without noticeable loss. I ended up at 10 on all 3 axis and velocity 80 on X & Y & 60 on Z. This is a G0704. The less violent direction change is probably better for the machine.

Acceleration is good for small, short cuts, velocity is good for big parts and straight lines, whichever you do will decide what you need.

[bebob1]

In my experience the coolants have a rust preventative (or I should say mine did, not sure about all). My mill had an automatic lubrication system so I never saw a negative.

If you are using mist it might be ok. But flood like in the video is different, for example the coolant easily gets under the wage and into the mechanics.

some coolants have surfactants and are water based. some even have sulfur added in. the surfactants might aid in exposing the native metal of the ways or leadscrew may allow the water to rust it? ideally you might prefer to always have a certain form of lubricant covering your leadscrew and stuff but the coolant can disturb this state.

are you using coolmist as a mist or flood?

[Fastest1]

That machine I referred to, I have used both. I like flood the best by far. Easier, quieter and clears the chips out better. No rust that I have ever seen. Screws are in boots and autolubed.